Sweeping the City Clean

Philadelphia has been swept clean by the Temple Owls.

TU finished off its Big Five schedule for the year with a 65-53 win over the La Salle Explorers this past Saturday.

With this win and the help of a Richmond loss, the Owls return to first place (technically tied with Xavier, but we have the tiebreaker) in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Juan Fernandez started his first game since Fordham, and had a field day from beyond the arc. Lavoy Allen had a career day in the rebounds column, pulling down an impressive double double. Ryan Brooks and Micheal Eric rounded up the majority of the rest of the team's scoring.

Here's a look at the statistics for the Owls:

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Juan Fernandez	23	2	2	2	3
Lavoy Allen	17	21	2	0	1
Micheal Eric	10	2	0	1	1
Ryan Brooks	9	4	4	0	1

Fernandez shot 8/12 (75%) from the floor, including seven three pointers. As we mentioned, the sophomore guard earned the start over Ramone Moore. This is a great sign for the team, knowing that its Juan is back in a groove from beyond the arc.

FG Percentage: 23/60 (38%)
FT Percentage: 8/15 (53.3%)
3PT FG Percentage: 11/23 (48%)

As for La Salle, you've really got to feel for them as they are plagued by injury like no other team. Rodney Green, Jerrell Williams, and Aaric Murray do what they can to contribute, but three players won't always be able to get the job done. Missing three seniors (two of which are key starters) will not work in any way.

Here's the top performers for the Explorers:

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Rodney Green	21	1	6	4	1
Jerrell Williams	17	5	1	1	1
Aaric Murray	10	3	0	3	3

Rodney Green led the Explorers in scoring with 21 points. Jerrell Williams was the second leading scorer with 17 points, and freshman phenom Aaric Murray had 10 points of his own.

FG Percentage: 24/59 (41%)
FT Percentage: 1/4 (25%)
3PT FG Percentage: 4/19 (21%)

Temple (24-5)(12-2) will stay on the road to play against Saint Louis on Wednesday.

La Salle (11-17)(3-11) will remain at home and will welcome Massachusetts this Wednesday.

Around The Atlantic 10 (Feb. '10 - Week 4)

Here's a look at the current standings in the Atlantic 10 Conference:

Team	Overall Record
Temple	(24-5)(12-2)
Xavier	(11-7)(12-2)
Richmond	(22-7)(11-3)
Saint Louis	(19-9)(10-4)
Charlotte	(19-9)(9-5)
URI	(20-7)(8-6)
Dayton	(19-9)(8-6)
Duquesne	(15-13)(6-8)
George Washington	(16-11)(6-8)
St. Bonaventure	(13-14)(6-8)
Massachusetts	(10-18)(4-10)
La Salle	(11-17)(3-11)
Saint Joseph's	(9-19)(3-11)
Fordham	(2-24)(0-14)

You can stay updated daily on the conference standings by checking out our updated standings on the right side of the site.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Atlantic 10 Conference as the season progresses.

Whatcha Think? Temple vs. La Salle

Live Blog: #20 Temple vs. La Salle

Temple's Tournament Projections (2/28/10)

We're less than three weeks away from Selection Sunday, and college basketball bloggers across the country are already making their selections for who will be in this year's 2010 NCAA Tournament.

For the most part, the projections seem to be pretty accurate for the top teams in the country and the season winds down.

We've compiled rankings from some of the top "Bracketology" sites on the internet to give you an idea of where they have Temple, as well as how many other teams from the Atlantic 10 Conference might be in.

Projection Site	Temple's Seed	Atlantic 10 Teams
Blogging the Bracket	5	5
Bracketography.com	4	2
Rivals 'Drive for 65'	3	6
ESPN Bracketology	4	4
College Basketball News	-	5
MSN BRACKETville	4	5
College Hoops Net	5	1
TeamRankings.com	4	4

Average Temple seeding: 4.1
Average Atlantic 10 teams: 4

One of the best features about college basketball is that you can never be certain until it's officially time. We could definitely see a number of shakeups in these projection by the time March 14 rolls around.

We'll just have to wait and see.

What to Watch (February 27th, 2010)

It's the first time in a while that Temple is not playing on a Saturday, but there are fourteen other games going on across the country.

Provided are the game times, as well as a link to online streams.. Here's a look at these matchups:

Atlantic 10 Conference Games

Rhode Island at St. Bonaventure (2:00 PM)
Watch Online: N/A
Watch on TV: CSN

Temple's case: Either. Temple has wins over both of these teams.

Charlotte at George Washington (6:00 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: N/A

Temple's case: George Washington (W). Charlotte is one of Temple's two losses in conference.

Massachusetts at Dayton (7:00 PM)
Watch Online: N/A
Watch on TV: N/A

Temple's case: Either. Temple has wins over both of these teams.

Duquesne at St. Louis (8:00 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: N/A

Temple's case: Duquesne (W). Gives the meeting between SLU and Temple less implications.

Top 25 Games

#2 Kentucky at #17 Tennessee (12:00 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: CBS

Temple's case: Kentucky (W). Owls would possibly jump over Vols in T-25.

#16 Pittsburgh at St. John's (12:00 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: ESPN360

Temple's case: St. John's (W). Temple lost to the Red Storm, so a T-25 win boosts TU in the ranks.

There's plenty of college basketball going on today, so be sure to catch a game or two..or three, or more.

Rivals.com Showing the Owls Some Love

One of the most reliable college sports websites is Rivals, a branch of Yahoo!.

As I was skimming through many of the articles, I came upon a segment written by Mike Huguenin that the College Basketball portion of the site knows as "Drive for 65: NCAA Tournament Projection". This article breaks down the top 65 teams by ranking and projection.

Mr. Huguenin has Temple current as the 11th best team in the country, and listed as a number three seed:


Here's are the Rivals picks: Drive for 65: NCAA Tournament Projection

Across the web, Temple has been projected the majority of the time as a four or five seed, so this ranking is very generous. However, the article backs this ranking up with the fact that Temple (along with Georgetown) has the third most RPI top-50 wins.

In addition to the Owls, six (yes six) Atlantic 10 Conference teams are projected to be receive bids to the dance:

(3) Temple
(6) Xavier
(7) Richmond
(10) Rhode Island
(12) Charlotte, Dayton

We're approaching the month of March, but the madness has already begun.

Owls Looking to Sweep the Big Five

Temple returns to action this weekend to close out its Big Five schedule against the La Salle Explorers.

The Owl's Nest will give you an in-depth look at Sunday's outing against Big Five rival La Salle for the Temple Men's Basketball team.

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#20 Temple Owls vs. La Salle Explorers
Tom Gola Arena (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Television: (TV) - | (RADIO) 1210 WPHT | (ONLINE) -
Tip-off: 2:00 PM

The head to head matchup has Temple leading 61-45. The latest matchup came earlier this year, where the Owls defeated La Salle by a score of 64-52.

La Salle Explorers

Overall Record: (11-16)(3-10)
2008 Record: (18-13)(9-7)
Last Game: (81-72 loss to George Washington)

Key Losses: None
Key Returns: (G) Rodney Green, (G) Kimmani Barrett

La Salle is a team that consists of both veteran and youth leadership. Guards Rodney Green and Kimmani Barrett lead the Explorer backcourt with their contributions, but are assisted by the developing post game. Freshman Aaric Murray has stepped in as a key source of production.

The Explorers have been challenged several times this year, playing against teams like Kansas, Xavier, and South Carolina. Although these three games all resulted in losses, the team has been able to learn from these opportunities to give future opponents tough challeneges.

Unfortunately, the Explorers are a team that have been absolutely plagued by injury like no other team. This squad has three seniors (two of which are starters and averaging signifant numbers) that have been sidelined due to injury. These setbacks have really hurt this team's production primarily during the second half of the year.

La Salle's strength of schedule is currently ranked 71st by RealTimeRPI.

La Salle has a number of offensive weapons on this team. Here's an idea of the team's scoring, as we refer to their statistics from their previous game against George Washington:

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Rodney Green	21	4	5	4	3
Aaric Murray	16	9	1	3	5
Jerrell Williams	13	16	3	3	3
Steve Weingarten	10	2	1	1	5

The Explorers have a number of contributors:

Leading the team in scoring is senior guard Rodney Green. Green has been a proven playmaker for the last couple of years for La Salle, and continues to contribute great numbers. He is currently averaging 19 points per game along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Kimmani Barrett is the other half of this talented Explorer backcourt. Also in his senior year, Barrett averages 13 points and four assists for his team. The tandem of Green and Barrett has proven to be very challenging to guard; however he has not seen action since early January due to injuries that have sidelined him for most of the season. Barrett unfortunately is likely to miss the rest of the season for La Salle.

One of the newest additions to this team is freshman Aaric Murray, who has definitely lived up to the majority of his expectations. The 6'10 first year center scores 13 points and pulls down 7 boards per outing.

Yves Mkongo-Mbala is the team's fourth leading scorer at about 11 points per game. Unfortunately he is the team's third senior to be sidelined due to injury. Mekongo-Mbala had surgery on his hand earlier this month, which has kept him out of play for two (up to) four weeks.

La Salle's defense gives up 71 points per game; however, the team does average 5 blocks and 7 steals.

Field Goal Percentage: 44%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 34%
Free Throw Percentage: 67%

As a team, the La Salle Explorers average 71 points per game through about seven players.

Please be sure to visit the following La Salle sites for more on the Explorers:

GoExplorers.com | LaSalle-Explorers.com | ExplorerHoopReport.com
#20 Temple Owls

Overall Record: (23-5)(11-2)
2008 Record (20-12)(11-5)
Last Game: (49-41 win over Dayton)

Key Losses: (G) Dionte Christmas, (G) Semaj Inge, (C) Sergio Olmos
Key Returns: (G) Ryan Brooks, (F) Lavoy Allen, (G) Juan Fernandez

Temple has had a tough out of conference schedule leading up to Atlantic 10 Conference play, and competition has yet to light up a bit. The Owls have seen the likes of three Big East teams (Villanova, St. John's, and Georgetown), a Big 12 team (Kansas), and teams from the ACC and Big Ten. It doesn't hurt that A10 conference member Richmond is ranked in the AP Poll's Top 25. The Owls have been challenged early on and have been very successful thus far Temple's Strength of Schedule is currently ranked 42nd in the country.

According to RealTimeRPI, Temple's RPI is currently ranked as 13th in the country.

On January 30th, Temple defeated the Explorers earlier in the season, and will look to continue that seven game Explorer losing streak.

Field Goal Percentage: 43%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 33%
Free Throw Percentage: 69%

As a team, the Owls average 66 points per outing. This comes from the contributions of several players.

Temple's leading scorer is senior guard Ryan Brooks. He is both athletic in the scoring column as well as the rebounding stat. Brooks averages 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Guard Juan Fernandez is the second leading scorer, averaging 12 points and 4 assists. Fernandez, since his return to play from injury, has come off the bench but has still put up big numbers. This has only made Temple a deeper team.

Lavoy Allen is Temple's third leading scorer and top rebounder. Averaging 11 points and 11 rebounds, Allen has been a force to reckon with all year long. He continues to post up double-doubles in almost every outing, playing as one of the team's more consistent performers.

Ramone Moore has become a reliable scoring option in the last several games, starting in place of Juan Fernandez. The sophomore has become an offensive weapon for the last few weeks for the Owls, averaging roughly 8 points and 3 rebounds.

Here's Temple's last top performers in its game against Dayton:

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Ramone Moore	13	3	1	1	0
Ryan Brooks	11	3	1	2	1
Lavoy Allen	9	17	3	0	3
Juan Fernandez	7	2	1	2	3

Predicted Starting 5

Here's our prediction of Sunday's starting five for the Temple Owls:

(G) Ramone Moore
(G) Ryan Brooks
(G) Luis Guzman
(F) Lavoy Allen
(C) Micheal Eric

Key Players (TEM): The Owls cannot afford to shoot the basketball the way that they did this past Wednesday against Dayton. The team's biggest advantage in this game might be the post play with La Salle's Mekongo-Mbala being sidelined to injury. Micheal Eric and Lavoy Allen have an opportunity to repeat their performances against Rhode Island.

Key Players (LU): Temple has done a nice time of shutting down key scorers on the opposition. The Explorers will need to rely on players like Rodney Green and Aaric Murry to get the ball rolling early on. If the Owls get hot, La Salle will have to match Temple's production to keep this game close.

We'll have more in store for Sunday's meeting with the Explorers as we approach gametime!

Upcoming Matchup: #20 Temple vs. La Salle

[PREVIEW] Temple vs. La Salle
[Q&A] Getting to Know La Salle (Q&A)
[POD] Audio broadcast preview of the game
[LIVE] Live blog of Temple - La Salle game
[POST GAME] Thread for post game reactions
[RECAP] Temple vs. La Salle

Stay updated with The Owl's Nest by following us on Twitter.

Owls Win in an Off-Shooting Night

After last minutes plans to attend a Black Eyed Peas concert, I was unable to watch or keep track of this game on a play by play basis. Thanks to several twitter followers and ESPN ScoreCenter, though, a sigh of relief was felt when the Owls went on to defeat the Dayton Flyers 49-41.

Temple scored it's third lowest amount of points in a game this season, but also gave up the least amount this year.

The shooting display by both teams are quiet possibly a season low for both squads, as the halftime score dictated: 19-13. Plain and simple, both teams shot horribly. Take a look at these statistics:

TEM FG Percentage - 32%
DAY FG Percentage - 27%

TEM 3PT FG Percentage - 13%
DAY 3PT FG Percentage - 29.4%

TEM FT Percentage - 67%
DAY FT Percentage - 62%

Bottom line was neither team was able to put the ball in the basket. Scoring was very inconsistent through the majority of the game, which was why there were no big runs or lead changes.

There's no real complaining when your team wins, as that's all that really matters when it boils down.

Take a look at Temple's top performers in last night's outing:

TEMPLE OWLS TOP PERFORMERS

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Ramone Moore	13	3	1	1	0
Ryan Brooks	11	3	1	2	1
Lavoy Allen	9	17	3	0	3
Juan Fernandez	7	2	1	2	3

Ramone Moore had a game high 13 points for Temple in a winning effort. The Owls' leading scorer Ryan Brooks had 11 points of his own, shooting almost 50% (a game high). Lavoy Allen collected 19 rebounds along with his 9 points, which were crucial to keeping Dayton from capitalizing on second chance opportunities.

The Owls controlled this game for the entire 40 minutes, not allowing Dayton to have the lead.

Here are the top performers for Dayton:

DAYTON FLYERS TOP PERFORMERS

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Chris Wright	12	13	0	1	1
Rob Lowery	7	5	3	4	4
Marcus Johnson	4	4	2	0	3
Mickey Perry	4	2	2	0	4

Chris Wright led all UD scorers with 12 points and 13 rebounds, which was the majority ofvthe team's production. Rob Lowery was the second leading scorer with two important three pointers that kept the Flyers within two or three possessions.

Here are some of the comments on yesterday's game from those who either attended or watched what was an ugly shooting night for both teams.

@judasdac This game played w/o a shot clock? Or they use medicine ball instead of basketball?

@darin22b The shooting on both sides looks like a freshman HS team.. wow.

@IBBW Are you the first game this season where neither team hit 50? Jesus. Learn some offense.

Temple (23-5)(11-2) will take a quick trip over to La Salle for a Big Five matchup this Sunday.

Dayton (18-9)(7-6) heads back home to welcome Massachusetts on Saturday.

Getting to Know Dayton (Q&A)

For every matchup, we like to give opposing blogger's a chance to tell us about their team and find out their input on that upcoming game.

Today, we had the opportunity to Tom Blackburn of the well known Dayton blog Blackburn Review a few questions about his Flyers thus far in the season.

The Owl's Nest: How important is Wednesday's matchup for the Flyers?

Blackburn Review: Basically, Dayton is a dead man walking. After Sunday’s loss at Duquesne, the Flyers were essentially sentenced to death by a fair, but firm, jury. A win tomorrow against Temple would simply act as a stay of execution. If UD, a notoriously deficient road team, could somehow pull the upset they would live to fight another day and breathe some life, futile as it is, back into the season. A victory would allow UD to go back to its jail cell where it can masturbate feverishly until the next potential execution date. A loss to Temple would finally give the Flyers the sweet release of death that they have no doubt earned.

TON: If today was Selection Sunday, and your team had to plead its case as to why this team should deserve an invite to the tournament, what would be your reasoning towards to the selection committee?

BR: First and foremost, I would have to consume a few stiff drinks so I could lie to the committee’s face without breaking character. I would stress UD’s out-of-conference schedule: the Flyers matched up with Villanova (a close loss), Kansas State (another close loss), and Georgia Tech (a close win) in the Puerto Rico Tipoff. Additionally, the Flyers beat a decent Old Dominion team and went on the road to the Pit and almost pulled off a win at New Mexico. The out-of-conference record speaks for itself, as does the teams’ RPI and SOS. Up to this point, I got the committee eating out of my hand and wondering what I looked bare-chested on a bearskin rug.

However, I don’t see how I could effectively address UD’s struggles in A-10 play without severely hindering (or more accurately, murdering) my case. I’m pretty sure that whimsical tales of tainted chessesteaks (don’t ask) and mysterious illnesses will only go so far to excuse a 7-5 league record. It’s at this point that I would have my mother phone in a bomb threat so the committee wouldn’t have the opportunity to ask any tough questions.

As a follow-up, I would send each committee member an email afterward saying, “I know where each of you lives. If Dayton gets into the tournament, maybe your house doesn’t burn to the ground. If UD is left out, maybe your house isn’t so lucky. Ah, who am I kidding? I’m gonna light your houses on fire regardless.”

TON: Who would you consider fills the leadership role, and what players have become the playmakers for this program?

BR: I honestly couldn’t tell you who the leader of this squad is. UD doesn’t have a lot of outspoken players on the team, it seems like a real laid-back bunch of guys who probably get together to smoke weed and talk about sneakers. Maybe that’s been the problem with this team, there hasn’t been anyone to step in and take that leadership role that some teams desperately need. The odd thing is that this current Flyer team has eleven upperclassmen on the roster. I could throw out a cliché and say that this team leads by example, but your readers deserve more than that, and I can’t think of anything better to say.

The playmakers are Chris Johnson and Chris Wright. They are the straws that stir the drink. Marcus Johnson, a senior guard, came into this season with a lot of expectations but has failed to live up to them. Marcus’ disappointing season has basically come to exemplify the underachievement of this team, this coaching staff and our band leader. Especially the band leader, that fucker is just phoning it in at this point.

TON: As a whole, what would you say this team's strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the ball are?

BR: On the offensive end, this team excels at keeping itself hydrated. Its biggest weakness is perimeter shooting. Teams have been able to pack in their defense and watch in amusement as the Flyers harmlessly bomb away from behind the arc.

Defensively, the Flyers have been pretty solid this season, allowing just 62 points a game, good enough for 4th in the conference. The weakness of this team has been locking down when the absolutely had to. It seems that this team has not been able to get a stop when the game was on the line. Last year, you could always count on the defense making a big play or two to seal a game. This year? Not so much.

TON: How do you believe the Flyers will handle the firepower Ramone Moore, Lavoy Allen, and Ryan Brooks, with Juan Fernandez coming off of the bench?

BR: The last time I saw a foursome that impressive, I had to go to the ATM, empty out my checking account, and change my pants back at the hotel room. Certainly, Temple’s depth in the backcourt is one of its strengths and will definitely be a factor on Wednesday night. Temple’s backcourt is unique in the sense that any of the four can hurt you offensively. There isn’t a weak link among them.

The thing about Brian Gregory is that he sticks to his guns, for better or for worse. He will play the same man-to-man defense he always employs, so don’t expect any traps or gimmick defenses from him. His offensive playbook is four pages long and his defensive scheme(s) could fit on the back of a matchbook. UD substitutes liberally, with the philosophy that fresh bodies will eventually wear their opponent down. It’s basically the same type of strategy that got thousands upon thousands of American boys killed on the beaches of Normandy.

TON: Any thoughts or predictions for Wednesday?

BR: I think it’s apparent that Temple should win this one. UD is reeling from yet another turrrrible conference loss and the Owls just continue to steamroll towards the postseason. However, UD still has some gas left in the tank. They have two more chances to make an impression on the tournament committee, with games at Temple and Richmond. To say time is of the essence would be an understatement. Dayton has to get a win Wednesday to salvage what’s left of their season. Do I think UD has a shot? Well, feast on this. One of our astute readers calculated that Brian Gregory is currently 2-29 against ranked teams on the road. 2-29, there’s all you need to know.

Click here to see my answers to Tom's questions: "An Interrogatory with: Temple University"

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, Tom. Please be sure to check out his blog, Blackburn Review for all Dayton Flyer news.

Dayton Flies into Philadelphia

Coming off Wednesday's dominating victory over St. Bonaventure, the Temple Owls will return to home to welcome the Dayton Flyers.

The Owl's Nest will give you an in-depth look at Wednesday's outing against Dayton for the Temple Men's Basketball team.

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#20 Temple Owls vs. Dayton Flyers
The Liacouras Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Television: (TV) - | (RADIO) 1210 WPHT | (ONLINE) -
Tip-off: 6:30 PM

The head to head matchup has Temple leading 14-11. The latest matchup came last year, where the Owls won by a score of 70-65.

Dayton Flyers

Overall Record: (18-8)(7-4)
2008 Record: (27-8)(11-5)
Last Game: (73-71 loss to Duquesne)

Key Losses: (F) Charles Little, (G) Rob Lowery
Key Returns: (F) Chris Wright, (G) Chris Johnson

The Dayton Flyers have arguably one of the toughest schedules in the Atlantic 10 Conference. This team has gone on the road to play at least four ranked teams (Georgia Tech, Villanova, Kansas State, New Mexico). Although UD only went 1-3 against these teams, the average loss was by roughly just five points. A win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets certainly helps make the case that this team is a tournament caliber squad. The worst loss of the Flyers' season came in mid-January against St. Joseph's by a point.

Dayton's strength of schedule is currently ranked 41st by RealTimeRPI.

UD has a number of offensive weapons on this team. Here's an idea of Dayton's scoring, as we refer to their statistics from their previous game against Duquesne:

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Chris Johnson	21	6	2	1	4
Chris Wright	15	6	0	4	4
Paul Williams	12	2	1	0	2
Kurt Huelsman	10	6	0	0	1

The leading scorer for the Flyers is senior forward Chris Wright, averaging 15 points and 7 rebounds. Wright is the leader of this team, both vocally and on the stat sheet.

Behind him is Chris Johnson, and guard/forward who puts up similar numbers of 13 points and 7 rebounds.

The next few scorers (Marcus Johnson, Rob Lowery, Luke Fabrizius, Mickey Perry, Paul Williams) account for roughly 6 to 8 points, and 1 to 3 rebounds.

Field Goal Percentage: 45%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 33%
Free Throw Percentage: 66%

As a team, the Dayton Flyers average 70 points per game between roughly 11 players. UD is not afraid to go deep into its bench, which is another factor that makes this team dangerous.

Please be sure to visit the following Dayton sites for more on the Flyers:

DaytonFlyers.com | Blackburn Review | UDPride.com
#20 Temple Owls

Overall Record: (22-5)(10-2)
2008 Record (20-12)(11-5)
Last Game: (75-67 OT win over St. Joe's)

Key Losses: (G) Dionte Christmas, (G) Semaj Inge, (C) Sergio Olmos
Key Returns: (G) Ryan Brooks, (F) Lavoy Allen, (G) Juan Fernandez

Temple has had a tough out of conference schedule leading up to Atlantic 10 Conference play, and competition has yet to light up a bit. The Owls have seen the likes of three Big East teams (Villanova, St. John's, and Georgetown), a Big 12 team (Kansas), and teams from the ACC and Big Ten. It doesn't hurt that A10 conference member Richmond is ranked in the AP Poll's Top 25. The Owls have been challenged early on and have been very successful thus far Temple's Strength of Schedule is currently ranked 42nd in the country.

According to RealTimeRPI, Temple's RPI is currently ranked as 14th in the country.

Field Goal Percentage: 43%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 34%
Free Throw Percentage: 69%

As a team, the Owls average 66 points per outing. This comes from the contributions of several players.

Temple's leading scorer is senior guard Ryan Brooks. He is both athletic in the scoring column as well as the rebounding stat. Brooks averages 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Guard Juan Fernandez is the second leading scorer, averaging 12 points and 4 assists.

Lavoy Allen is Temple's third leading scorer and top rebounder. Averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds, Allen has been a force to reckon with all year long. He continues to post up double-doubles in almost every outing, playing as one of the team's more consistent performers.

Ramone Moore has become a reliable scoring option in the last several games, starting in place of Juan Fernandez.

Here's Temple's last top performers in their game against St. Joseph's:

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Ramone Moore	24	9	3	0	3
Lavoy Allen	16	10	2	2	3
Juan Fernandez	13	5	3	2	2
Ryan Brooks	12	4	2	2	3

Predicted Starting 5

Here's our prediction of Wednesday's starting five for the Temple Owls:

(G) Ramone Moore
(G) Ryan Brooks
(G) Luis Guzman
(F) Lavoy Allen
(C) Micheal Eric

Key Players (TEM): Temple's biggest problem might come as a shock to most fans familiar with Temple's style of play--three point shooting. The Owls shot 2/15 (13%) on Saturday, which was one of many reasons Temple struggled to build a lead. This will need to improve if Temple wants to give Dayton a hard time. Another issue would be that the team seems to shy away from a successful post game. Plain and simple: if the post play is successful, then don't shy away!

Key Players (DAY): Against Georgia Tech, Dayton received plenty of support from the bench, seeing three players in double-digits. Not only will this seem need efficient scorers from the get go, they will also find ways to limit scoring on the defensive side of the ball. So far, there hasn't been a team that has been able to limit the production of Ramone Moore. Ryan Brooks, on the other hand, has been held to just 1 point between the last two first halves. Slowing down Temple's offensive production will be a major factor in winning the game.

We'll have more in store for Wednesday's meeting with the Flyers as we approach gametime!

Upcoming Matchup: #20 Temple vs. Dayton

[PREVIEW] Temple vs. Dayton
[Q&A] Blogger from Dayton
[LIVE] Live blog of Temple - Dayton game
[POST GAME] Thread for post game reactions
[RECAP] Temple vs. Dayton

Be sure to follow us on Twitter for more updates on Temple sports news!

Baseball Weekly (February 22, 2010)

Baseball Weekly – February 22

Feb. 26-27-28 @ UNLV Rebels

by Kent Manno

Results

2/19/10 Temple vs. FGCU: 0-10 (L)
2/20/10 Temple vs.FGCU: 1-14 (L)
2/21/10 Temple vs. FGCU: 6-15 (L)

Upcoming Preview

The Temple Owls hop on the plane again and head west for the second series of the 2010 campaign against UNLV at the Earl E. Wilson Baseball Stadium at Roger Barnson Field.

UNLV

2009 Record: 26-32
Head Coach: Buddy Gouldsmith

The Rebels Head Coach Buddy Gouldsmith (2005 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year) is in his 7th Year amassing a record of 147-156 (.485). Before coming to UNLV, he served as hitting instructor and third base coach at Tulane University for four years. Gouldsmith helped lead the Green Wave to its first-ever College World Series appearance in 2001. Over his five years as head coach of the Rebels, Gouldsmith has coached 16 all-conference players, two players of the year and two All-Americans and has seen 17 players taken in the MLB draft.

In 2009, the Rebels finished 5th in the MWC behind TCU, New Mexico, BYU and San Diego State.

An interesting tidbit: The Rebels host four games each with Northern teams -- Columbia, Temple, and Northwestern-- over the first month of the season.

2010 Record

2/19/10 UNLV vs. Sacramento State: 8-10 (L)
2/20/10 UNLV vs. Sacramento State; 5-19 (L)
2/21/10 UNLV vs. Sacramento State; 18-14 (W)

Returning Key Players:

Scott Berke SR OF .329-2-40
Drew Beuerlein SR OF .328-1-24
Chad Claus JR C .269-0-21
Jarred Frierson SR OF .340-4-35
Rance Roundy SR OF .364-3-32

Returning Pitchers:

Andrew Beresford SO RHP 6.32-3-4 54K
Glenn DeWeese SR LHP 6.15-0-1 12K
Michael Goodman SR LHP 6.29-2-1 20K
Matt Hutchison SR RHP 7.05-2-2 32K
Tanner Peters SO RHP 4.90-5-7 59K

Will Miss:

Anthony Morel* SS .324-3-44
Bryan Resnick 2B .327-7-35
J.J. Sferra* OF .364-0-22<>*2009 All-Mountain West Conference selection

Good luck Owls!

Around The Atlantic 10 (Feb. '10 - Week 3)

Here's a look at the current standings in the Atlantic 10 Conference:

Team	Overall Record
Richmond	(22-6)(11-2)
Temple	(22-5)(10-2)
Xavier	(19-7)(10-2)
Saint Louis	(18-8)(9-3)
Charlotte	(18-8)(8-4)
URI	(20-6)(8-5)
Dayton	(18-8)(7-5)
Duquesne	(15-12)(6-7)
George Washington	(14-11)(4-8)
St. Bonaventure	(11-14)(4-8)
Massachusetts	(10-17)(4-9)
La Salle	(11-15)(3-9)
Saint Joseph's	(9-18)(3-10)
Fordham	(2-23)(0-13)

You can stay updated daily on the conference standings by checking out our updated standings on the right side of the site.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Atlantic 10 Conference as the season progresses.

What to Watch (February 21st, 2010)

Today there are a few games on that in one way or another affects Temple. Provided are the games, the impact they have on Temple, as well as a link to online streams.. Here's a look at these matchups:

#3 Villanova at #19 Pittsburgh (12:00 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: CBS

The Owls beat the current third ranked team in the country, and would like to make that win look as good as possible. As much as I do not like the Wildcats, their wins do not hurt the Owls and can only make the 'W' look better. This is an interesting matchup, as two ranked teams battle it out. Temple is currently behind the Panthers in the Polls, and could potentially "leapfrog" them if they are to lose.

Dayton at Duquesne (1:00 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: ESPN2

The Dayton Flyers will travel to Philadelphia on Wednesday as Temple's next matchup, but will first need to face the Duquesne Dukes. This will give us a good look at what the Owls will be up against since we've already played the Dukes. Not to mention that this is an Atlantic 10 Conference matchup.

St. Bonaventure at La Salle (4:00 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: CBS College Sports

Though the Owls have already played both of these teams, the La Salle Explorers will have the opportunity to redeem themselves against Temple later on in the season. This is another scouting opportunity of an upcoming matchup for the Owls but also somewhat of an irrelevant conference matchup.

Saint Louis at UMass (4:00 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: N/A

Saint Louis is a team that Temple will face later in the season as well, and will have their hands full against a challenging UMass squad. The Billikens are a team that are right up there in the Atlantic 10 standings and will make a hard push for a run in the conference tournament.

Virginia Tech at #6 Duke (7:45 PM)
Watch Online: Video Stream
Watch on TV: CSN

Temple beat Virginia Tech in the Philly Hoops Classic earlier this year, and the Hokies have done nothing but achieved success through the majority of this season. A win in Cameron Indoor Stadium against the #6 team in the country would not only help VT's case for the tournament, but also make Temple's SOS/RPI stronger than it already is. Rooting for Virginia Tech in this one, Temple fans.

There's a lot of college hoops on today, but these are several games that have some (if any) impact on Temple.

More from Moore: Owls Beat Hawks in OT

There's nothing that defines the Palestra better than the cathedral for college basketball. It has hosted some of the most memorable basketball games in history, and this afternoon's big five matchup was no exception to the long line of unbelievable finishes.

The Temple Owls and St. Joseph's Hawks played a nailbiter into overtime, where Temple was able to hang on and win 75-67.

Temple began this game using its advantage in the post. An early 10-2 lead came from the efforts of Ramone Moore, Lavoy Allen, and Micheal Eric. By halftime, the Owls outscored St. Joe's 24-2 solely on points in the paint.

St. Joe's played the exact opposite from beyond the arc as they did against Xavier. Darrin Govens and Carl Jones came out firing from beyond the arc, and caused a number of problems from three point range.

The Owls held a comfortable lead for most of the first half until SJU made several adjustments. A switch from man-to-man to a zone defense absolutely shut down Temple's post play in the final minutes of the first half. It was then that the Hawks capitalized and made this game a two possession game at the half.

The second half was as close as the final seconds of regulation. Both teams had their own runs and scoring droughts, which eventually brought us into overtime.

First off, a THANK YOU to Ramone Moore, who saved this game from being over in regulation several times:

Temple was down 47-44 at one point, and 'Mone was able to connect on an 'and one' reverse layup which gave Temple some its momentum back.

The second play came with about 5.1 seconds remaining with the Owls down a basket. SJU's Garrett Williamson came down the court and gave the Hawks a 59-57 lead. The 6'4 sophomore took the inbounds from Juan Fernandez all the way to the bucket and tied the game up with 1.5 to go. A chuck and pray from St. Joe's was missed, and the game went into overtime.

The Owls opened up overtime with a Juan Fernandez three, and never looked back. The Owls capitalized on free throws and sealed the deal to earn the victory.

Here's a look at Temple's top performers in this game:

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Ramone Moore	24	9	3	0	3
Lavoy Allen	16	10	2	2	3
Juan Fernandez	13	5	3	2	2
Ryan Brooks	12	4	2	2	3

Ramone Moore led all scorers on another career day. Ryan Brooks was held to just two points at halftime, but emerged as one of the key contributors in the second half. Lavoy Allen earned himself another double double, and Juan Fernandez once again had a spectacular game off the bench.

For St. Joe's, Darrin Govens led the team with 21 points. Garrett Williamson had 20 points shooting 7 of 8 from the free throw line, and Carl Jones had 16 points coming off of the bench.

Once again a nice win for the Owls, regardless of the way it ended. The growth of Ramone Moore has been one of many upsides to this Temple team and will continue to help as they move toward post season play.

Temple (22-5)(10-2) will head over to the Liacouras Center to welcome the Dayton Flyers this Wednesday.

St. Joseph's (9-18)(3-10) will go back out on the road to play Charlotte on Wednesday.

Whatcha Think? Temple vs. St. Joe's

Share your thoughts on Temple's performance against St. Joe's in the comments section below

Live Blog: #21 Temple vs. St. Joseph's

Temple Prepares for Rematch with St. Joe's

Coming off Wednesday's dominating victory over St. Bonaventure, the Temple Owls will return to Philadelphia to take on Big Five rival St. Joe's at the Palestra for round two.

The Owl's Nest will give you an in-depth look at Saturday's outing against St. Joseph's for the Temple Men's Basketball team.

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#21 Temple Owls vs. St. Joseph's Hawks
The Palestra (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Television: (TV) CSN | (RADIO) 1210 WPHT
Tip-off: 12:00 PM

The head to head matchup has Temple leading 84-65. The latest matchup came earlier this year where the Owls won convincingly by a score of 73-46.

St. Joseph's Hawks

Overall Record: (9-17)(3-9)
2008 Record: (17-15)(9-7)
Last Game: (88-52 loss to Xavier)

Key Losses: (G) Tasheed Carr, (C) Ahmad Nivins
Key Returns: (G) Garrett Williamson, (G) Darrin Govens

The St. Joe's Hawks lost two talents in both the paint and guardplay due to graduation, and have started somewhat fresh in what seems like a rebuilding process. St. Joe's has shown many signs of what their potential could be (an 8 point loss to #3 Villanova proved that this team could compete with some of the top teams in the country). They also earned a victory over the Dayton Flyers earlier on in the year. However, losses to Ivy League schools Cornell and Princeton have shown otherwise, and reveal the weaknesses of this team. The Hawks have the 79th ranked strength of schedule in the country.

The Hawks are currently on a three game losing streak, and are hoping to knock off the national ranked Owls.

Though three of the returning starters are upperclassmen, a number of younger players have made their way into the starting lineup and into contributing positions.

Here's an idea of St. Joseph's scoring, as we refer to their statistics from their previous game against Xavier:

Garrett Williamson (17 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists)
Chris Prescott (9 points, 3 assists)
Idris Hilliard (8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist)
Carl Jones (8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists)

Leading the Hawks this season are seniors Darrin Govens and Garrett Williamson. Williamson has great floor presence, and fits the position as more of a point guard. He scores 12 points per game that is complimented by 4 assists.

The leading scorer on this team is Darrin Govens, who for the majority of the season thus far has been dependable on the stat sheet. He averages 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists per game for the Hawks.

The leading rebounder and reliable big man would be Idris Hilliard, who is a versatile player at 6'7". Hilliard is second on the team in rebounding (6 rebounds per game), and is third in scoring with 11 points per game.

Field Goal Percentage: 41%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 30%
Free Throw Percentage: 71%

The Hawks are fair scoring team, averaging 69 points per game. Even against some of their tougher opponents, the Hawks find ways to score.

Please be sure to visit the following St. Joe's sites for more on the Hawks:

SJUHawks.com | Hawk Hoop Club | StJosephsInsider.com
#21 Temple Owls

Overall Record: (21-5)(9-2)
2008 Record (20-12)(11-5)
Last Game: (73-55 win over St. Bonaventure)

Key Losses: (G) Dionte Christmas, (G) Semaj Inge, (C) Sergio Olmos
Key Returns: (G) Ryan Brooks, (F) Lavoy Allen, (G) Juan Fernandez

Temple has had a tough out of conference schedule leading up to Atlantic 10 Conference play, and competition has yet to light up a bit. The Owls have seen the likes of three Big East teams (Villanova, St. John's, and Georgetown), a Big 12 team (Kansas), and teams from the ACC and Big Ten. It doesn't hurt that A10 conference member Richmond is ranked in the AP Poll's Top 25. The Owls have been challenged early on and have been very successful thus far Temple's Strength of Schedule is currently ranked 42nd in the country.

According to RealTimeRPI, Temple's RPI is currently ranked as 14th in the country.

Field Goal Percentage: 43%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 34%
Free Throw Percentage: 69%

As a team, the Owls average 66 points per outing. This comes from the contributions of several players.

Here's Temple's last top performers in their game against St. Bonaventure:

Temple's leading scorer is senior guard Ryan Brooks. He is both athletic in the scoring column as well as the rebounding stat. Brooks averages 15 points and 5 rebounds. The senior guard was hot during the second half of Temple's game against St. Bonaventure, scoring all of his 13 points then.

Guard Juan Fernandez is the second leading scorer, averaging 12 points and 4 assists. For the most part, Fernandez seems to be back to near 100%, as he contributed nicely against the Bonnies on Wednesday. He has put up respectable numbers in his return despite coming in off of the bench.

Lavoy Allen is Temple's third leading scorer and top rebounder. Averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds, Allen has been a force to reckon with all year long. He continues to post up double-doubles in almost every outing, playing as one of the team's more consistent performers.

Ramone Moore has become a reliable scoring option in the last several games, starting in place of Juan Fernandez. The freshman averages just 7 points and 3 rebounds, but has scored in the double-digits in the last five games.

Here's Temple's last top performers in their game against St. Bonaventure:

Ramone Moore (19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists)
Juan Fernandez (15 points, 5 assists, 1 steal)
Ryan Brooks (13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)
Lavoy Allen (8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist)

Predicted Starting 5

Here's our prediction of Saturday's starting five for the Temple Owls:

(G) Ramone Moore
(G) Ryan Brooks
(G) Luis Guzman
(F) Lavoy Allen
(C) Micheal Eric

Key Players (TEM): Due to a late arrival to a film session, Lavoy Allen did not play all 40 minutes against the Haws but still managed to rack up 20 points and 11 rebounds. His dominance showed that Temple's post play will be a major factor in this game, and it would not hurt if the Owls can get Micheal Eric involved as well.

Key Players (SJU): The Hawks were unable to get a single player in double digit scoring in the teams' matchup earlier this year. It will be crucial for St. Joseph's to get one of their top scorers in a groove early on. Whether it is Garrett Williamson, Darrin Govens, or Idris Hillard, someone needs to spark for this team early on.

We'll have more in store for Saturday's meeting with the Hawks as we approach gametime!

Upcoming Matchup: #21 Temple vs. St. Joe's

[PREVIEW] Temple vs. St. Joe's
[Q&A] Blogger from St. Joe's
[LIVE] Live blog of Temple - St. Joe's game
[POST GAME] Thread for post game reactions
[RECAP] Temple vs. St. Joe's

Be sure to follow us on Twitter for more updates on Temple sports news!

Second Half Surge Earns Temple Victory

Ryan Brooks was held scoreless at halftime, and the Temple Owls had a five point lead over the St. Bonaventure Bonnies during intermission.

The Owls were in foul trouble early on in this game as well, with at least three key players with 2 fouls apiece .

The senior guard, along with Juan Fernandez and Ramone Moore, sparked a Temple surge that helped certify a 73-55 Owl victory. The second half Owls were playing the same way they showed against Rhode Island.

Ryan Brooks had the hot hand in the second half of play, scoring the team's 11 straight points and absolutely blowing the game open. He would finish out the game with 13 points. In addition, Juan Fernandez was able to find his touch from beyond the arc, contributing two triples of his own. Juan finished with 15 points-- the first double digit outing for him since January 23rd against Fordham.

Ramone Moore played aggressive last night in his third consecutive start, attacking the basket and making plays on his own. The freshman guard contributed a team high 18 points.

Here's a look at Temple's top performers from last night:

Ramone Moore (18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists)
Juan Fernandez (15 points, 5 assists)
Ryan Brooks (13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)
Lavoy Allen (8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist)

The Owls struggled to find ways to stop St. Bonaventure's Jonathan Hall, who was the Bonnies' main scoring outlet. The team's leading scorer finished last night with a game high 19 points. The senior guard suffered a slight ankle injury late in the second half that was incredibly game changing.

Free throw shooting allowed the Bonnies to stay in this game. The team scored 16 of its 55 points from the charity stripe.

Here were the leading performers for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies:

Jonathan Hall (19 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist)
Chris Matthews (9 points, 4 rebounds)
Andrew Nicholson (8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist)
Michael Davenport (6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist)

Temple's record improves to (21-5)(9-2), and the Owls will head home (sort of) to play St. Joe's on Saturday.

St. Bonaventure's record falls to (10-14)(3-8) and the Bonnies will also travel to Philadelphia to play La Salle.

Whatcha Think? Temple vs. SBU

Share your thoughts on Temple's performance against St. Bonaventure in the comments section below.

Live Blog: #21 Temple vs. SBU

Getting to Know SBU (Q&A)

For every matchup, we like to give opposing blogger's a chance to tell us about their team and find out their input on that upcoming game.

Today, we had the opportunity to Ian of the well known Atlantic 10 blog College Chalk Talk a few questions about his Bonnies thus far in the season.

The Owl's Nest: What is something unique about being a St. Bonaventure basketball fan?

College Chalk Talk: St. Bonaventure fans are unique in that maybe more than any other school in the league, these fans are homegrown and have a tremendous passion for their team. The locals from Both Olean and Allegheny love Bonaventure basketball with a passion that is unrivaled. Everywhere you go in the local community Bonaventure basketball is being discussed and in any restaurant you dine at you will probably find Bonaventure basketball photos hanging on the wall. The older fans love to talk about the Bob Lanier years and the 1970 Final Four team with no end in sight. Fans grow up as kids coming to the Reilly Center with their parents and eventually return that favor when they start families of their own. It really is a unique atmosphere not just in the RC, but in the town as well.

TON: From '02-'08, the Bonnies were unfortunately not able to achieve a winning season. Last year the team was one game over .500 in regular season play. What has been the key to the SBU program making a turnaround and once again becoming competitive?

CCT: Actually the Bonnies finished at exactly .500 last year by going 15-15 and 6-10 in Atlantic 10 play. For my money, the key to last year's turnaround was Head Coach Mark Schmidt. Schmidt has gotten the team to play with a much greater energy and intensity and night and and night out this team has been competitive (save the Richmond second half). Bonaventure has more talented on the roster compared to those years that you mentioned and they are led by sophomore Andrew Nicholson who captured the league's Rookie of the Year award last season. While they probably won't be able to turn the trick in defeating the Owls (In my humble opinion) they will be well scouted and Bonaventure should hang around at home at least for the first half.

TON: Who would you consider fills the leadership role, and what players have become the playmakers for this program?

CCT: The first part of your question is very difficult to answer because I do not believe this team has a true leader. Junior point guard Malcolm Eleby tried to take on that role last year but he has been relegated to the bench of late and as such this team really does not have one captain who steers the ship so to speak. Seniors Chris Matthews and Jonathan Hall are not vocal leaders and sophomore Andrew Nicholson is certainly the team's best player but also not a vocal presence on the floor. As for players on the team, again, a tough one to Answer. Matthews is the best three point shooter on the team but is hardly a playermaker in a manor of speaking; I'd have to go with Hall. Hall led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists a year ago after being a JUCO transfer and is once again having a fine season in all areas of play (12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting over 50% from the floor). Hall is a good slasher and finishes well at the rim, but is a horrible free throw shooter and three point man

TON: As a whole, what would you say this team's strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the ball are?

CCT: A strength would be their field goal percentage offense which ranks second in the league right now at 46%. Bonaventure excels when they get the ball in the hands of Nicholson and let him go to work. He currently has the second highest field goal percentage in the nation, and when he gets the ball on the blocks their are very players who can stop him (though Lavoy Allen may very well be one of them). The problem is, the Bonnies have so few weapons that teams constantly double-team Andrew and he is denied the ball in the post often. Getting him the ball early in the possession should always be a point of emphasis for Schmidt as his club because of the floor space Nicholson can create just by touching the ball and forcing double teams and weak-side help.

TON: How do you believe the return of Juan Fernandez for Temple impacts St. Bonaventure's gameplan if he were not to be playing?

CCT: Boy talk about a major blow for the Bonnies, having Fernandez out of the game would have been a huge plus for the Brown and White. Bonaventure's point guards (Eleby and Ogo) generally do a decent job in defending point guards, but Fernandez is certainly one of the best in the league. That said, against Richmond the Bonnies were able to hold super point guard Kevin Anderson (the best point guard in the league for my money) to just six points on 3-10 shooting. However, in the process David Gonzalvez was able to score a game high 25 points. I think Fernandez will give the Bonnies problems because of his ability to shoot the basketball from three, as the Bonnies are third worst three point defense team in the league. To answer your question as it pertains to a game-plan I would say that had Fernandez not been playing the Bonnies could have sagged off the point spot in order to help double-down on Allen more often.

TON: Any thoughts or predictions for Saturday?

CCT: Well right off the bat you have to understand that Temple has far more talent and is better coached than the Bonnies. That is no knock on Mark Schmidt because he has done a great job since he has been here but Fran Dunphy might be one of the most underrated coaches in the entire Country. Temple is coming off a big win over Rhode Island, so the optimistic Bonnies fan will tell you that this a major trap game for the Cherry and White...I don't see it that way. Temple plays great half-court defense and that will give the Bonnies fits, just like Richmond did last weekend. I'll take Temple by a score of 71-59.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, Ian. Please be sure to check out his blog, College Chalk Talk for all the latest Atlantic 10 news.

Owls Head Back to NY to Meet Bonnies

After an impressive outing against Rhode Island, the Temple Owls will head back out onto the road to take on their next opponent, the St. Bonaventure Bonnies.

The Owl's Nest will give you an in-depth look at Wednesday afternoon's outing for the Temple Men's Basketball team.

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#21 Temple Owls vs. St. Bonaventure Bonnies
The Reilly Center (St. Bonaventure, New York)
Television: (TV) - | (RADIO) 1210 WPHT
Tip-off: 7:00 PM

The head to head matchup has Temple leading convincingly, 49-6. Last year's matchup featured a 70-56 Owls victory.

St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Overall Record: (10-13)(3-7)
2008 Record: (15-15)(6-10)
Last Game: (68-49 loss to Richmond)

Key Losses: N/A
Key Returns: (F) Andrew Nicholson, (G) Jonathan Hall, (G) Chris Matthews

Despite what hasn't been too rough of an out of conference schedule, the team has been challenged by several teams. The Bonnies gave the Syracuse Orange a run for its money on the road, losing to the top five team by just 13 points. SBU also played against the Big East's St. John's, losing by a mere point.

Inside of the Atlantic 10 conference, the Bonnies have had a fair share of close losses against teams like Duquesne, Saint Louis, and Charlotte. St. Bonaventure has wins in conference over St. Joe's, UMass, and Fordham.

St. Bonaventure's RPI current sits at number 195 in the country.

Field Goal Percentage: 45%
3PT Field Goal Percentage: 32%
Free Throw Percentage: 69%

As a team, the St. Bonaventure Bonnies average 70 points per game, and see scoring from nearly everyone on the team that sees efficient playing time.

Here's an idea of St. Bonaventure's scoring, as we refer to their statistics from their previous game against :

Andrew Nicholson (17 points, 7 rebounds)
Jonathan Hall (16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists)
Chris Matthews (6 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists)
Malcolm Eleby (4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals)

The Bonnies have a number of contributors:

Andrew Nicholson is the team's leading scorer, averaging 17 points and 8 rebounds. At 6'9 and 220 pounds, his size allows him to be such a versatile player both inside and outside of the paint. He's also just a sophomore, and has a lot of promise in the next couple of years for this up and coming SBU program.

The team's second leading scorer is guard Jonathan Hall, who averages 13 points and 5 rebounds per outing.

The final double digit scorer is senior guard Chris Matthews. The 6'4 playmaker averages 12 points and 3 rebounds per game for the Bonnies.

Please be sure to visit the following St. Bonaventure sites for more on the Bonnies:

GoBonnies.com | StBonInsider.com | Bonnies Bandwagon
#21 Temple Owls

Overall Record: (20-5)(8-2)
2008 Record (20-12)(11-5)
Last Game: (78-56 win over Rhode Island)

Key Losses: (G) Dionte Christmas, (G) Semaj Inge, (C) Sergio Olmos
Key Returns: (G) Ryan Brooks, (F) Lavoy Allen, (G) Juan Fernandez

Temple has had a tough out of conference schedule leading up to Atlantic 10 Conference play, and competition has yet to light up a bit. The Owls have seen the likes of three Big East teams (Villanova, St. John's, and Georgetown), a Big 12 team (Kansas), and teams from the ACC and Big Ten. It doesn't hurt that A10 conference member Richmond is ranked in the AP Poll's Top 25. The Owls have been challenged early on and have been very successful thus far Temple's Strength of Schedule is currently ranked rd in the country.

According to RealTimeRPI, Temple's RPI is currently ranked as 12th in the country.

Field Goal Percentage: 43%
3PT Field Goal Percentage:34 %
Free Throw Percentage: 69%

As a team, the Owls average 66 points per outing. This comes from the contributions of several players.

Here's Temple's last top performers in their game against Rhode Island:

Micheal Eric (19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks)
Ryan Brooks (18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal)
Lavoy Allen (17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks)
Ramone Moore (12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)

Temple's leading scorer is senior guard Ryan Brooks. He is both athletic in the scoring column as well as the rebounding stat. Brooks averages 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Guard Juan Fernandez is the second leading scorer, averaging 12 points and 4 assists. Temple fans were very happy to see the point guard return to action on Saturday against Rhode Island, as it was his first significant playing time since sustaining an injury against Fordham.

Lavoy Allen is Temple's third leading scorer and top rebounder. Averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds, Allen has been a force to reckon with all year long.

Ramone Moore has become a reliable scoring option in the last several games. The freshman averages just 7 points and 3 rebounds, but has scored in the double-digits in the last four games.

The Owls' defense gives up 56 points per game, and as a team Temple averages roughly 5 steals and 3 blocks per game.

Predicted Starting 5

Here's our prediction of Wednesday's starting five for the Temple Owls:

(G) Juan Fernandez
(G) Ryan Brooks
(G) Luis Guzman
(F) Lavoy Allen
(C) Micheal Eric

Key Players (TEM): With the return of Juan Fernandez, the Owls once again lived up to their full potential and had everyone on the offense involved. It will be important through the rest of the season for the team to be very consistent, because if the team plays the way the performed against URI they will be extremely scary. If Juan Fernandez gets himself into the scoring column along with the other players, this team could easily be averaging 80 points a game.

Key Players (SBU): A key to many teams beating the Owls has been by getting off to a fast start. The Bonnies need to get quick scoring, and need to establish early outlets for points between Nicholson, Hall, and Matthews.

We'll have more in store for Wednesday's meeting with the Bonnies as we approach gametime!

Owls Baseball Opens Season at FGCU

by Kent Manno

Feb. 19-20-21 @ Florida Gulf Coast University

The Temple Owls begin their 2010 campaign with a road trip south of the border to take on the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast University at Swanson Stadium in Fort Myers, FL.

The Eagles have a relatively young program as their first season was in 2003. Since that time, they have amassed a 266-117-2 overall record and a 36-18 record last season.

In 2009, the team won the Atlantic Sun Conference title and Coach Dave Tollet earned honors as the Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year. In addition, four Eagles were named to the All-Atlantic Sun First Team last year. At home in 2009, the Eagles posted a 20-10 record.

The team has added 12 new players to a strong group of experienced starters. Several of the team's key returners include:

(INF) Zach Maxfield .383
(SS) Stephen Wickens .356 [All-Atlantic Sun Second Team]
(INF) Mikel Alvarez .352

(P) Craig Crumbly 7-3 | 4.61 ERA
(P) Chris Sale 7-4 | 2.72 ERA [Preseason All-American by Baseball America]

The Owls will have their hands full with an FGCU team that is ranked 38th in the nation by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

Good Luck Owls!

Upcoming Matchup: #21 Temple vs. SBU

[PREVIEW] Temple vs. St. Bonaventure
[Q&A] Getting to Know St. Bonaventure (TBD)
[POD] Audio broadcast preview of the game
[LIVE] Live blog of Temple - St. Bonaventure game
[POST GAME] Thread for post game reactions
[RECAP] Temple vs. St. Bonaventure

Stay updated with The Owl's Nest by following us on Twitter.

Around The Atlantic 10 (Feb. '10 - Week 2)

Here's a look at the current standings in the Atlantic 10 Conference:

Team	Overall Record
Richmond	(20-6)(9-2)
Temple	(20-5)(8-2)
Charlotte	(18-6)(8-2)
Xavier	(17-7)(8-2)
Saint Louis	(16-8)(7-3)
URI	(19-5)(7-4)
Dayton	(17-7)(6-4)
Duquesne	(13-12)(4-7)
Massachusetts	(10-15)(4-7)
La Salle	(11-13)(3-7)
George Washington	(13-10)(3-7)
St. Bonaventure	(10-13)(3-7)
Saint Joseph's	(9-16)(3-8)
Fordham	(2-21)(0-11)

You can stay updated daily on the conference standings by checking out our updated standings on the right side of the site.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Atlantic 10 Conference as the season progresses.

Owls Starters Shine in Return to Play

Hooter the Owl got what he wished for on his birthday.

After a long week off, the Temple basketball team gave its mascot a nice birthday gift after a week off from play. The Owls saw a record field goal shooting percentage for a game, the return of Juan Fernandez, an earned 20+ win season, and a solid victory over the Rhode Island Rams.

The return of Juan Fernandez was highly anticipated by Owls fans, though most would agree that a 100% point guard would be better off than a "good to try" one. Coach Dunphy decided to go with the same lineup he had against Richmond, consisting of Luis Guzman, Ramone Moore, Ryan Brooks, Lavoy Allen, and Micheal Eric.

The first half of this game was the 'Micheal Eric Show'. The 6'11 sophomore had 17 of Temple's 43 first half points. Eric was able to score on layups, short jumpers, as well as pick and rolls for slam dunks.

Ramone Moore in his second straight start picked up where he left off with his fourth consecutive double digit scoring game. The Owls favored a faster pace in this game, which allowed for Moore to show off his speed and ability to beat the defense to the hole.

Temple had one of its best offensive showings in arguably years yesterday afternoon, as the team saw production from all areas of the court. Four Owls were able to get into double-digit scoring, and the team had unbelievable percentages from the field and three point line. Temple did a nice job distributing the basketball with 23 assists; this was one of the reasons the offense was so productive and why Rhode Island had so many problems slowing anyone down.

Here's a look at Temple's leading performers, as well as the team's impressive shooting percentages:

Micheal Eric (19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists)
Ryan Brooks (18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist)
Lavoy Allen (17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks)
Ramone Moore (12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)

Field Goal Percentage: (35/51) 68.6% *
3PT Field Goal Percentage: (6/6) 100%

* School record

We mention that the Owls earned a school record field goal shooting percentage, breaking a previous statistic (68.4%) from 1973.

Temple point guard Juan Fernandez returned to action for the first time since playing against Duquesne two weeks ago and made his presence felt early. Although he entered action 12 minutes into the game, Fernandez contributed mostly by showing off his playmaking skills as a pure floor general. Juan had a three point basket in his return, but made more noise with his six assists.

For Rhode Island, things were not going well from the get-go. The Rams had trouble establishing themselves and were down by 20 points at the half.

Here are the top performers for Rhode Island:

Delroy James (11 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals)
Akeem Richmond (11 points, 2 rebounds)
Keith Cothran (10 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals)

Leading scorer Keith Cothran did not start for URI due to disciplinary reasons (violation of team rules). Delroy James was a little slow finding his touch as well.

The Rams were limited to just (18/59) 30.5% from the field and (5/20) 25% from the three point line in yesterday afternoon's game.

Temple (20-5)(8-2) will head out onto the road Wednesday to play St. Bonaventure on Wednesday.

Rhode Island (19-5)(7-4) stays on the road to play Saint Louis this Wednesday.